Smart foods for an aging population
The search for taste launched Japan as a food science pioneer. Now it leads a global drive to create functional foods, and opportunities abound for career-hungry researchers.

Japan was the first country to commercialize the lithium-ion battery in the 1990s and is once again reasserting its market dominance with more efficient commercial lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications.

This year, as Singapore hosts various events to mark its Golden Jubilee ― the 50th year since becoming an independent state ― it has a lot more to celebrate than its rapid social and economic development. Science has also been booming.

This supplement reveals that the country’s output of high-quality research in the natural sciences has declined over the past five years, following on from long-term declines in federal funding for research and development.

Saudi Arabia is already the scientific leader of the Arab world, but it is not standing still. Through investment in research and education – and a new focus on maximising the commercial value of its academic prowess – the country is beating a path to reducing its reliance on oil.

Liver cancer is one of the most lethal forms of the disease: fewer than 40% of those who have it survive a year after diagnosis, even with treatment, and there are not many promising therapies in the pipeline. But if researchers can understand why some people with unhealthy livers develop cancer but others do not, they may be able to more effectively treat the disease — or even prevent it.

The Nature Index 2014 Global supplement provides a snapshot of results from the new Nature Index, comparing the countries and institutions around the world that contributed to some of the highest quality research during the previous calendar year.

A simple grain with global impact, rice has helped to build empires and fed revolutions. Now, scientists are starting a rice revolution of their own to feed a hungry world. By decoding genetics, improving breeding and, perhaps, reshaping the plant’s biology, researchers are working to take the world’s most vital crop into the future.

The issue of how to evaluate the fruits of academic research confronts scientists and policymakers all over the world. Each country has its own set of circumstances depending on its research infrastructure and wealth as well as its economic, environmental and developmental objectives. Australia and New Zealand might be neighbours, but their programmes of research assessment are very different. Focusing on the tools and methods used to measure the quality and impact of science in Australia and New Zealand should inform similar debates throughout the scientific world.